emb021 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Friday November 2, 2007Contact:Eric Reynolds206.524.1967 x218reynolds@fantagraphics.comANNOUNCING “STRANGE & STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO”COMING IN JUNE 2008 FROM FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKSOn his 80th birthday, Fantagraphics Books is proud to announce the June 2008 release ofthe first critical retrospective of Steve Ditko, the co-creator and original artist of theAmazing Spider-Man.In the wake of the astonishing success of Sam Raimi’s three Spider-Man movies, SteveDitko’s status as a driving force behind the pop culture icon has been revealed to anaudience the world over. But, in the context of Steve Ditko’s 50-year career in comics,his creative involvement with Spider-Man is merely the tip of the iceberg.Ditko is known amongst the cartooning cognoscenti as one of the supreme visual stylistsin the history of comics, as well as the most fiercely independent cartoonist of hisgeneration. From his earliest days in the 1950s, working for the notorious low-budgetCharlton Comics (the Roger Corman Productions of the comics industry), Steve Ditkobroke every convention in comics, with his innovative special designs and imaginativelyhallucinatory landscapes of Dr. Strange, the almost plebian earthiness of The AmazingSpider-Man, and his black-and-white views on morality and justice through hisuncompromising vigilante of the late 1960s, Mr. A (inspired by the work of AtlasShrugged author and Objectivist philosopher, Ayn Rand).Why will this book appeal to such a broad readership, to those who may not even becomic-book, or Steve Ditko, fans? “For the non-comic-book reader,” says author BlakeBell (author and essayist for the Marvel Comics’ line of Ditko-related Omnibus reprintprojects), “we tell the narrative of Steve Ditko, the artist, from humble beginnings inJohnstown Pennsylvania; to the dizzying heights of co-creating Spider-Man; to thespectacular Howard Roark-like determination, and tribulations, in bringing his personaland philosophical vision to a recalcitrant audience. There’s a fantastic, dramatic storylinerunning through Ditko’s career; the artist having walked away from the Spider-Manfranchise (and the billions it was to generate) as it was reaching the height of itspopularity. What price did Ditko pay, and what was the impact on his work?”Comic-book fans have also been waiting for a definitive examination of Ditko the artist; achance to have the entire artistic scope of his career in one volume. “Fans of Ditko, andcomic art, will not be able to put the book down,” says Bell, “as we explode many of themyths surrounding key moments in Ditko’s career, as well as present reams of rare andunpublished Ditko artwork. For the comic art scholar, we also break down the “hows” ofSteve Ditko as a great sequential storyteller, dissecting his work in depth for the first time,also with analysis and commentary by some of the most skilled and articulate comiccreators of the day.”While Steve Ditko himself remains absent for the World Wide Web (minus a summerback in 2001, when Bell himself worked for Ditko as his official web site designer),Strange & Stranger will assault the ’Net with similar intensity to that of the creatorhimself.In addition to updates to Bell’s unofficial Steve Ditko web site at www.ditko.comics.org,readers will be able to keep abreast of updates with pages on Facebook, MySpace, and adedicated feature page at the Fantagraphics web site, found through the portalwww.steveditkobook.com. This will have a web log offering on-going commentary onthe process of creating the book, with commentary by Bell and the staff at Fantagraphics.It will also publish commentary by professional comic-book creators on Ditko’s careerand artwork, and feature artwork that won't make it into the book. As the book speeds toits June 2008 release date, teasers, convention appearances by Bell, as well as book storesignings will be featured on the site.2008 will mark the year when Steve Ditko fans the world over will have the opportunityto celebrate the artist’s 50-plus year career with this definitive volume from Blake Belland Fantagraphics Books.A selection of images in a variety of formats is available for publication. For additionalinformation, contact Eric Reynolds at the numbers above.TITLE INFORMATION:Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve DitkoBy Blake Bell$39.99 Hardcover220 pages, full-color, 9” x 12”ISBN 978-1-56097-921-0PUBLICATION DATE: June 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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